Artists You Should Know: J. Allen St. John

A couple of months ago, Craig LaBeau (a good human and friend of the family) was over visiting. "Craig, who is your favorite artist?" spilled out of my mouth before I could stop myself. (We were both a bit stunned; never once in all these years have we talked Art.) Craig thought for a moment, and then replied that he didn't know much about art, but really liked whoever it was that illustrated the first edition Tarzan covers. God love him, he's quick on his feet.

Naturally, I had no clue who this artist might have been. We looked it up, and it turned out that Mr. "I don't know art" LaBeau had zeroed in on one of the most highly collectible illustrators of the 20th-century. It further turned out that getting to know J. Allen St. John was a treat. Though he's known for his illustrations, he was also a fabulous portraitist (you can see this in his book covers - even the pulps) and long-term Chicago-area art instructor. I came to agree with Edgar Rice Burroughs, who claimed his Tarzan books wouldn't have sold nearly as well, were it not for St. John's dust jackets, frontispieces and plates. (True story: ERB never, ever saw a real live jungle in his life ... but St. John surely did.)

Craig has earned both my thanks and a request to go garage-saling with me, next time out. What an eye!